cowl

The vigilant CLI companion that watches, compiles, and executes your C code with the precision of an owl's gaze

Cross-platform • Intelligent • Lightning Fast

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See Cowl in Action

Watch how Cowl monitors your C files and automatically compiles and executes them with lightning speed

cowl-terminal

$ // Watching for changes...

$ cowl --src=hello.c --out=hello

$ ✓ Detected change in hello.c

$ ⚡ Compiling with gcc...

$ ✓ Compilation successful

$ 🚀 Executing hello...

$ Hello, World!

Intelligent Watching

Cowl monitors your C files with precision, detecting changes instantly and triggering rebuilds automatically.

Lightning Compilation

Smart compiler detection with fallback support. Works with GCC, Clang, or automatically installs MinGW on Windows.

Instant Execution

Your compiled programs run immediately with beautiful, colorized output and comprehensive error handling.

Powerful Features

Built for developers who demand efficiency, reliability, and an exceptional development experience

Smart File Watching

Intelligent monitoring of C files with instant change detection and automatic rebuilds

Compiler Intelligence

Automatic compiler detection with smart fallbacks and Windows auto-setup via Chocolatey

Beautiful Interface

Colorized logs, elegant spinners, and a terminal experience that's actually enjoyable

Intuitive Controls

Simple keyboard shortcuts: R for manual rebuild, Ctrl+C to exit gracefully

Cross-Platform

Seamless operation across Windows, Linux, and macOS with platform-specific optimizations

Robust & Reliable

Built-in error handling, graceful failures, and comprehensive logging for debugging

Get Started

Install Cowl in seconds and start watching your C code with the vigilance of an owl

Install with NPM

Global installation for system-wide access

npm install -g @natabael/cowl@1.0.8

Simple Usage

Get up and running in seconds with intuitive commands and powerful options

Quick Start

cowl

Starts watching app.c and compiles to app executable

Custom Configuration

cowl --src=main.c --out=program --delay=200

Watch main.c, compile to program, with 200ms delay

Keyboard Controls

Ctrl+CGracefully exit Cowl

RForce manual rebuild

HShow help and options

Environment Variables

export C_SOURCE_FILE=mycode.c

export C_EXECUTABLE_NAME=mybin

export EXEC_DELAY_MS=100

cowl